The Arizona Republic is reporting that Gap Kids now offers a crochet string bikini for 1 year-olds. What?
GapKids recently featured a white, crocheted string bikini you’d likely see Anna Kournikova wearing on the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. The bikini was for a 12-month-old.
Racks at Target held several bathing suits perfect for a Hawaiian Tropic bikini competition. The crocheted and camouflage-designed suits started at Size 4 in the little girls’ section.
Inseams on “classic” shorts at stores such as Abercrombie Kids and Hollister Co. are microscopic. And halter tops, shirts often lauded by fashion consultants for their ability to enhance a less-than-voluptuous chest, are everywhere for every age.
Moms hoping to find anything even mildly modest have to be happy Bermuda shorts are trendy again.
We don’t have kids or (much) younger sisters or nieces or anything, so we have no idea if this article is exaggerating, but it claims that parents are resorting to sewing their children’s clothes themselves because they can’t find non-slutty duds for their elementary school kids. Is this true?
Exasperation rises as suggestive clothes for girls spread from teens to toddlers [Arizona Republic]
(Photo: Gap Kids Bikini, Available For Girls 35lbs 41″)
More From Consumerist
-
Two-Month Undercover Operation Busts “Bikini Baristas” Accused Of Stripping At Grab ‘n’ Go
-
Endangered Species: Popularity Of Bikini Waxing Is Literally Destroying Pubic Lice Habitats
-
Hanes Apologizes For, Replaces Package Of Shoddy Panties
-
Bar Owner Buys Entire Texas Town, Renames It “Bikinis, TX”
-
I Might Get My Craftsman String Trimmer Back Before It Snows
This is nothing new. My oldest daughter is 5, and I’ve always had to put a lot of effort into finding appropriate clothing for her that is reasonably priced.
Gap and Old Navy have been making string bikinis just like this for years, but they usually also have one pieces available. Most of their clothing is just miniature versions of what they sell in their adult divisions.
I’ve had good luck with Gymboree, when they go on sale their prices aren’t horrible, and most of their clothing looks like it’s meant for little girls.
Blah blah blah. This is a simple case of “you kids get off my lawn.” Remember when we were kids and 12 year olds were hooked on crack and we were all gonna die of AIDS by the time we were 20 if the bomb didn’t kill us all first? Remember your parents weeping for the future? Yeah, it’s your turn now.
I have a 5 year old girl. I have absolutely no problem finding reasonable, non-slutty clothes for her. She has a 2 piece bathing suit. Is it a string bikini? No. Not even close. We bought it at Target. Parents who are claiming they have to resort to sewing their own clothes are lying, plain and simple.
We bought some clothes for her yesterday, in fact. And the thing that cracked me up about what was offered was the retro nature of it all. The colors, cuts, etc., looked just like the stuff the elementary school girls wore in my neighborhood circa 1979.
In other news, the sky is falling.
@Samby: I agree with your rec. of Gymboree. Gymboree has great stuff.
I have a 2 year old, and I’ve bought her two-pieces from ON and Gap and they look fine on her (I’d post a pic, but I’m scared of people calling her a slut).
Granted, that position will be revisited as she gets older. I do agree that clothes for girls ages 6+ is kinda skimpy. My niece is 7, and her mom always has a hard time finding skirts to cover her butt.
If girls the same age as my son are anything like him, this is roughly equal to letting the baby run naked. No article of clothing that’s tied on would last more than three seconds.
The solution to this seems simple to me: don’t buy it. I agree it’s harder to find modest girls’ clothes, but they’re out there. I’m definitely grateful that this hasn’t spread to boys’ clothes. He’s a breeze to dress, even if the selection in most stores is a third what it is for girls.
Kinda makes me wonder what kind of mind most of you have if you’re looking at a bikini as sexual. I think it’s cute!
I blame MTV and George Bush.
… I keed. Sidenote: Why isn’t anyone outraged by all those poor little boys who are forced to wear speedos?
@spanky: I was a lifeguard when I was a teenager and we would always hope and pray that a baby would poop in the pool, as it meant closing the pool for 24 hours so it could be “shocked” with chlorine. I don’t think any group of teenagers ever searched so hard for a little piece of floating poop….
This is useless unless they make a thong diaper.
Announcing new “Little Swimmers Thong Diapers!”
Heh, actually Speedos don’t bug me at all. I was swimming since I could walk, on team during middle and high school. Euro and Asian friends (they’re not as body-phobic across the ponds). Long story short, Speedos are more utilitarian than erotic.
That said, the first time I wore Speedos in public was… Awkward. For about five minutes. Then got over it. (shrug)
@spanky: Of course, there are some locales in the world in which one needn’t only have recourse to a large concrete basin in order to have a swim (e.g., lakes, oceans, et al).
Get over it: Infants should be allowed to run around nude or in swimsuits. If these were g-strings I would think it was a bit odd, but if our society is afraid of a little infant nudity we have serious problems.
All these problems with child sex predators these days and this is what they are selling to young children? WTF!
@AnitraSmith: I went thru this ordeal , too. The industry DID have an answer to this problem: it was called the Limited, Too! Unfortunately, they closed most of the stores due to poor sales and parent’s complaining that the clothes weren’t “trendy” enough.
@lestat730: Especially when you grow up in a society where the 6-year-old Coppertone girl exposing her ass is considered cute!
I’ve ALWAYS had a problem with those baby commercials where the little girls are bare-chested. It just seems weird that it’s cute when she’s under the age of 4, but if she’s 5 or older, it’s indecent. What gives?
@Kilgore Trout: I’ll agree with you, in part. But the reality is that you have to hunt to find appropriate clothing in the age of Bratz, etc. Target is good, but I find myself paying a little more lately and going for Hanna Andersson and L.L.Bean. At least the clothes are cute and not just shrunken versions of adult “fashions.”
I make my kids lots of their clothes because I’m cheap. The side effect is that I can avoid generic, branded (i.e. Disney/Bratz/etc) crap which makes them look like idiots
It depends on the age and bathing suit style. If my husband had it his way our daughter would wear this!
click for a laugh
wholesomeWear
[www.wholesomewear.com]
@erica.blog:
I don’t let my daughter wear licensed character stuff out in public for that reason. Its always some fat chick named Heather that likes wearing stupid tweety bird or Winnie the Pooh shirts….lol
@XERLOQ: I believe SNL did a commercial for “Huggies Thongs.”
This wouldn’t be the first time, I recall that Abercrombie and Fitch had a line of underwear for little girls that had these dirty puns/double entrendres (sp?) written right on the crotch area.
Then after those were pulled, the company released a line of thongs for pre-teens (as in the 6-10 market).
@Kilgore Trout: But you can’t be calm and rational on the internets!!!
Sheesh people, chill! These aren’t for EVERY 1-year-old, just the hot ones!
Then SURELY there were banana hammocks for toddler boys?
I have a soon to be five year old. It’s true I find it hard to find non-slutastic clothes. Why in the heyall does a child need LOW RISE JEANS!?! The reason for a bikini is to be sexy and show as much skin as possible right? Can’t understand for the life of me why any parent would want to put their little one or even preteen in a bikini. It’s like parents aren’t thinking of the bigger picture and the message it sends. As for the Bratz dolls my daughter has one and it’s the HEAD only (for braiding hair and such). Does a child really need a bare midrift? You can’t blame the industry. They only make things that sell. Parents really need to come to their senses!
I never had a bikini until i was 12, but back in the 80′s, one-piece options were cool and widely available.
I had this great swimsuit when i was 3- it was black but had a ruffled, tuxedo-like bib panel on the front. Complete with little, red bow-tie.
I CRIED when I grew out of it.
Androgeny was cool back in my formitive years. Now I have a 7-year-old little sister and she refuses to wear any color too far out of the pink spectrum because “it’s for a boy.”
AAAAAAND she dresses like a little skank. partly b/c that’s how the clothes are made, and also in part b/c the child is abnormally tall & thin, so it’s hard to keep all of the legs and/or tummy covered up at all times….. okay, and she has a pair of high-heeled sandals that her trashy Grandma bought her. I’m gong to hide them from her someday. She’s always complaining that her little developing feet are hurting her, and she wears those sandals pretty much every day.
This causes me to shake with rage.
@Mom2Talavera: Yikes! I didn’t know that stuff was still made! Some people seriously need to stop wishing it was 1915. *shudder*
Some moderation in the clothing would be nice.
that’s nothing, I saw THONGS for pre-teens already.
@Me.: Do you really need an answer to that question?
All these comments make me a bit more glad I’m male. I don’t have problems deciding on how to dress for swimming, a bare chest and midriff goes everywhere.
But anyway, I agree that “sexualising” children is bad, and little girls dressing up in slut-like bikinis is a twisted state of affairs.
I don’t know what’s worse. The fact that little girls WANT to dress like this because their idols are people like Paris Hilton and Lindsey Lohan or the fact that parents allow it to happen.
@crankymediaguy: You are so going to Hell…
a very safe-for-work image of the bathing suit I’d buy in a heartbeat: [www.horrordvds.com] (The one on the left, no orange for me, thank you.)
However, I have seriously considered getting one of these:
[www.ahiida.com] (I am a Christian, btw)
Oh, and this just in, Garanimals aren’t extinct:
[www.garanimals.com] (too bad they don’t have swimwear)
Does anyone remember watching that episode of South Park? Stupid spoiled whore, wasn’t it?
Juuuuuust a reminder.
For those moms who are horrified as me by the mini-slut getups, I’d recommend Hanna Andersson clothing – cute, bright colors, incredibly well-made, and appropriate!! My daughter just turned one and I’ve bought six or eight outfits from there that are soft, comfortable, and cute. I think they have a few stores, but they have a great website and catalog. Google ‘em. I’m not a Hanna employee, just a customer who believes baby milk bellies don’t go with string bikinis.
@adrock75:
“Oh, Meg! Look at this one! Sperm Dumpster!”
@faust1200:
I’m 21 and I wear children’s sizes, and I have to say that finding sexy clothes that fit me is a LOT harder than many commenters here seem to think. Or maybe I’m just not looking in the right stores?
@markedward:
Heh! This article made me think of the exact same thing. That episode of Family Guy where Lois is helping Meg shop for clothes and points out the shirts that say “Porn Star”, “Slut”, and “Sperm Dumpster”. The sad thing, that’s not entirely satire, as it’s becoming a more common sight to see girls walking around wearing that kind of garbage.
I see no problem with toddlers wearing 2 peices or bikinis for that matter. I for one bought a bikini for my (then) 12 month old daughter last year. It fit her better than any one peice would due to her height and if you get bigger size one peices the are too baggy. I see alot of parents who are Ticked off that they cant even pull off a 2 peice. its a baby! who in their right mind is going to look at your kid and say “hmmm thats hot.. imma tap that diaper”.. they wont… so save you complaining and lose some weight if your so jealous and self concious. plain and simple. dont go judging peoples parenting because its diffrent than your own. Live, Learn, and get the heck over it.